Sting: My Songs Tour: International

Sting would wrap the Kaisaniemi audience around his little finger – a rare sight shone on the rock star's face...

As an artist in his late seventies, Sting is living a creative peak. And he is not alone.

I was excited in advance whether Sting's concert would be like the one he had at the Huuhkaji's European Championship qualifying match in Ratina a few days ago.

Would the artist strike first – or would lightning strike?

There was no lightning, nor was there any thunderstorm as threatened in the weather reports.

But Sting, "Pistin" in Finnish, was sharp. He didn't cut or poke, but presented completely new sides of himself at his 14th Finnish concert.

He wrapped his audience, the adults who filled the Kaisaniemi stadium, around his little finger and took the crowd of 10,000 people into his palm – with a relaxed smile.

Known for being serious, even matter-of-fact, Sting really seemed to be smiling the whole time.

I can say that this has never been seen in the previous thirteen concerts in Finland!

Not at ice rink or arena concerts, at Pori Jazz, Ruisrock, Finnair Stadium or here in the same place in Kaisaniemi seven years ago.

Now Sting was babbling long lines about the beautiful summer evening in the North – and jokingly teasing the band’s young backing singer Shane Sager during the band’s introduction.

– He’s 14. Or did you turn 15?

There’s room for a grin, because Sting is living a creative peak. He has released three new albums in two and a half years, of which this spring’s My Songs includes new versions of his own old songs.

He’s also a hard-working live performer. The My Songs tour started in Paris at the end of May – just a couple of days after the joint tour with reggae artist Shaggy ended.

At “Kasaniemi Park,” as Sting’s website called the venue, Sting and the band performed one song from Sting and Shaggy’s joint album (a great version of the great song: Waiting For The Break Of The Day) and otherwise focused on songs Sting had written for the Police and for himself as a solo artist.

Not everyone is thrilled with the arrangements on My Songs, the way Sting wanted to “modernize” his classic songs.

In a concert situation, the worry was unnecessary. Of course, every performance is unique, but live, Sting and the band seem to reach the expressive extremes of the songs more effectively than ever before.

Delicate is delicate, strong is strong.

Fragile, where Sting himself played acoustic guitar instead of bass, sounds touchingly fragile, Roxanne had the strength and energy of Olkiluoto.

Almost 70-year-old rock veterans are relevant right now. Bruce Springsteen, who turns 80 in the fall, will release his first studio album of new music in seven years today, Friday.

For the Western Stars album, Springsteen has taken influences from Californian rock of the 1960s and 70s.

HE can be said to have renewed himself as a singer – after a career of about 50 years.

And Sting feels the same has happened to himself and his voice.

– I reach more interesting upper notes with my voice than when I was 25, Sting estimates on his website, describing his voice as having become “richer”.

Sting’s voice was indeed tonal in the concert. Perhaps its strength has waned a bit over the years, but to counterbalance it, songs like Wrapped Around Your Finger and Fragile were played in Kaisaniemi in touching versions that have become more diverse over the decades.

In the face of Sting and Springsteen’s creative power, new exploration and discovery, one cannot help but say: 70 is the new 50!

(c) Ilta Sanomat by Pasi Kostiainen